Under new rules announced by the Ugandan authorities, passengers will also be required to present a negative PCR test done not more than 72 hours before travel. The measures will come into force effective immediately as the Ministry of Health in Uganda has set up testing laboratories at the airport to facilitate the Covid-19 test process.

“The measure is intended to curb further importation of the deadly variants of the coronavirus into the country. It is also to abet the further spread of the disease and guard against the third wave,” the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

“The turnaround time for the mandatory Covid-19 test results will be reduced from four hours to two hours and fifteen minutes. Five PCR test machines with the capacity to test 300 samples per hour are in place at Entebbe. The facility can test 3,600 passengers in 12 hours and 7,200 passengers in 24 hours,” the agency added.

According to Business Daily, the new directive will come as a blow to the airlines that are already struggling with the effects of Covid-19, as many carriers would be forced to reduce their flight trips to Uganda. The East-African country is one of the key routes for carriers such as Kenya Airways, which had announced that it reduced the number of flight trips to Uganda from 12 a week to nine due to low loads on the route as passengers kept off.